Victoria’s Secret Responds to Bloomberg Allegation

Victoria’s Secret responds to the Bloomberg allegation released earlier this week about this high-end undergarment line using organic fair-trade cotton in their garments that come from a farm in Burkina Faso

“If this allegation is true, it describes behavior that is contrary to our company’s values and the code of labor and sourcing standards that we require all of our suppliers to meet. These standards expressly prohibit child labor,” Limited Brands said in a statement. “… Depending on the findings, we are prepared to take swift action to prevent the illegal use of child labor in the fields where we source Fairtrade-certified organic cotton in Burkina Faso.”

Clarisse Kambire’s labor “exposes flaws in the system for certifying fair-trade commodities and finished goods in a global market that grew 27% in just one year to more than $5.8 billion in 2010. That market is built on the notion that purchases by companies and consumers aren’t supposed to make them accomplices to exploitation, especially of children,” the Bloomberg report says.